bloc party-ing it up!

It seems like I only blog when I've been to a concert. I don't mean to but I guess it just works out that way. I've also had some computer issues the past month and since I have no tolerance for slow computers, I haven't been spending that much time online. I've also been working a lot. I seem to have a lot of excuses. ANYWAYS I have to blog now because 1/3 of my concert gang wasn't able to make it to the Bloc Party concert on Monday night. School's important, yeah yeah...but in this case, Janice, you SO should have come because Bloc Party was fucking awesome!

We arrived at the Docks at about 6:40pm and there was already a lineup. I am glad Wendy decided to come with me because we could at least split the $15 parking cost. There were about 25 people ahead of us already in the lineup, and doors didn't even open for another 1 hr 20 minutes! While in line, Wendy & I got our over 19 years wristband. We looked at the line that was forming. There were barely any others wearing the yellow wristband. Damn. We also deduced that these kids were there so early because school ended for them at 3pm. That's right folks. We were among really really small kiddies. I saw this boy a few spots ahead of us - he looked 13 or 14. Damn all ages shows.

The wait in line was a killer. Other than these high school kids annoying us, there was also this group of 4 early-university students just before us. One guy was fucking LOUD. He was practically shouting at his friends right beside him - and he wasn't even drunk. I have no idea why he was talking so loud. Actually, I'm sure it's because he thought he was cool. Unfortunately he wasn't. How can you be if you use the word "gnarly" on a regular basis. Everything to this guy was "gnarly." Wendy was on the other side of me and didn't really hear much of the conversation but when I told her how this guy said "gnarly" she couldn't stop laughing. It was so annoying. The wait actually gave me a headache.

FINALLY at 8:05 pm people started moving in. And get this - a stupid teenage punk girl actually pushed me from behind. WTF. I was already annoyed with the loud dude, and this girl just made it for me. When we got in, I went to the ticket counter to confirm I had tickets (unfortunately since I got it through ticketpro last-minute, I don't have an actual tangible ticket as a momento). Then we started to walk in - and a whole bunch of girlies RAN, SCREAMING to the stage. At that point, Wendy & I decided to forget about securing our usual spot. We couldn't take these kids. Damn kids. We walked calmly to the merch table, where we each bought tees and I bought some pins for Janice.

We secured a spot on the right side, about 5 rows back, just behind this piece of equipment under the speakers. I'm not sure what it was but it allowed us to rest our elbows and provide some space so that we wouldn't be standing directly behind anyone. Anyway, we just stood there waiting and bitching about the young'uns till Noisettes appeared. We couldn't even get a drink because the Docks is retarded and cordones off a section for purchasing and consuming alcoholic drinks. WTF.

Noisettes were interesting. The lead singer had a lot of energy and her voice was unique. A lot of screaming. Some of their tunes were interesting but not enough to compel me to buy their EP. Actually, I didn't see any non-Bloc Party stuff at the merch table.

The Kills were SO boring. Who wants to see a female It jumping around on stage with the same synthesized beat for all their songs in the background? Unfortunately they were on for about 45 minutes.

At this point, during the setup for Bloc Party, I heard a girl beside me say to her friend, "I can't believe the audience is so old. I think there's 26 year-olds in here!" WTF. I turned and looked at her - this girl was AT MOST 19 years old. And all I can say is that this girl is fucking retarded and blind. Everyone surrounding us was younger. EVERYONE. Holy crap. As you can imagine I was in serious rage/annoyance mode by now.

At 10:30pm, Bloc Party got on stage. I was expecting Bloc Party to be a good live band - but I never thought they would be that good. Silent Alarm is a very high-energy album...Every song live was louder, built more tension, and had more energy than the album - if you can imagine that. I just wanted to dance the whole night!

They kicked it off with "Like Eating Glass," which is also the album starter. And despite my bitching about the crowd, they sang along right from the opening line "It's so cold in this house" so I knew the rest of the concert would be all right (in terms of band-love). Then they played "Positive Tension" (Janice, Wendy has a surprise for you)...and then "Banquet." This was a surprise because they played their biggest hit in North America 3rd song into the set. This was when these kiddies started moshing. Damn. It's funny because I felt like I was at a 1990's punk show. Anyways, I was really happy they played 3 of my favourite songs right away! At this point, Matt's shirt was already off and Kele had already stated how much they love being in Toronto. He also said they were thinking of moving to Canada - and this brought a lot of cheers from the crowd. But then he kind of ruined it by saying "well, to Vancouver." hahaha. It was nice anyway. Their set also had new songs, including "Hero" and "Two More Years," which rocks live. "Blue Light" and "This Modern Love" were also highlights for me...it's so great that the band can have such loud songs such as "Positive Tension" and "Luno" but also two of the
best love ballads of 2005. Hmm...I can't quite remember how they ended their set...

But it doesn't matter because they had TWO encores. The first one, they came back out and sang a new song but I couldn't quite get into it because this BITCH sat on that speaker-like thing Wendy & I were standing behind. Wendy asked her to get down, then a guy behind us asked her but she didn't move. There was a beer bottle beside her that still had some beer in it. You have no idea how tempted I was to take it and pour it on her. After the song she got down, I'm glad. I honestly would have poured that beer on her. I told Wendy that and she said she was thinking the exact same thing. Anyways, during encore #1, they also played one of my favs, "So Here We Are" which sounds so beautiful. Then someone threw a bra on stage...and Matt decided to wear it for one song! They closed encore #1 with "Pioneers."

Encore #2 was actually unexpected. People already started to leave but then the band got back on stage and everyone cheered. I can't express how energetic their show was. They are a great band to dance and go crazy to. The show ended at 12am and Wendy and I were debating whether to go to the drake hotel where they were rumoured to appear after the Docks show. But we both had to work the next day so we decided to head home.

Despite the terrible kiddie crowd (read this), I had an awesome time. I can't believe how great Bloc Party is when they play live. I will definitely see them when they come back to Toronto.

P.S. Sorry Janice, I don't know if Wendy uploaded the pics yet...I am using her computer but I can't find them so I figured I better stop snooping before she finds out I am using her computer. Haha. I don't think she reads my blog very often so I think I'll be ok.